Time for a new battery

[JB4310]

Looks like I need a new battery, didn't give much warning, slowed cranked once or twice then today just clicked, it says Oct 03 on it so it is 4+ years old, is that about the life expectancy for these? It's a yellow strong box.

What is a good replacement battery for this 4310, do I have to go to Deere or is there something better out there???

At first I thought it might have been due to my handy electric work, having recently installed a 12 volt acs. outlet, but the slow crank started before that so I think it's just time.

 

[MrJimi]

Optima with the most CCA that will fit in the hole

Click here for great battery

 

[Superduper]

I second the optima product but I've heard they've discontinued the weird sizes that the deere tractors require. If you can somehow shoehorn it in there, it's the best available for these types of applications.

 

[JB4310]

OK thanks for the recommendations guys but what are the min specs I need to look for? I've seen them at Napa, look like a 6 pack, guess those marketing geniuses know what we we like.

 

[JiminGa]

measure the current battery, lengthxwidthxheight note which side the + and - are on, go to the store and find the best cca optima in that size.

 

[TMcD_in_MI]

I put a new battery in my 4310 last year. I checked everywhere around my neck of the woods, and nobody had a battery with the same CCA rating specified in the JD manual (I think it was 500 CCA) that would fit. Maybe I could have gone with a lower CCA rating, but I ended up getting another yellow strong box from the JD dealer for eighty some bucks. I can't remember how many years the other one lasted, but it wasn't a lot - maybe three or four.

Good luck.

Tom

 

[Superduper]

OK thanks for the recommendations guys but what are the min specs I need to look for? I've seen them at Napa, look like a 6 pack, guess those marketing geniuses know what we we like.

Any Optima battery is going to be fine for what your tractor will require in a battery. The size for the newer tractors are group 51R or 22NF, I believe. Neither are common sizes and further complicating things is that the 22NF (especially the AGM) is also commonly used with equipment (such as electric wheel chairs) that do not require as high a CCA requirement. Therefore, you might be able to find that actual size battery but the CCA might not be high enough for a tractor environment.

Modifying or replacing a battery tray to accomodate a more "standard" size battery should be within the abilities of most tractor owners as it's not exactly rocket science. The problem is that these are small batteries and room is very limited under the tractors hood. I won't bother yet as my battery is still ticking but my first order of business if/when my battery starts showing signs of weakness is to remove the screen behind the hood so that I can better see and measure the actual amount of room that I have and try to shoehorn a more standard size battery in there.

 

[RavensRoost]

I looked in 2007 Exide catalog (.pdf that I got online awhile back) and it shows

L3710, L4310, 1999-00, group 24, 585 CCA

Having said that, I too have had good luck with Optima, have a redtop in a diesel genny that has been in there for about 4 years, one in my CJ-5, and one in my daily driver Tacoma 4x4.

RavensRoost

 

[Superduper]

L4310, that's Kubota, right? Group 24 is a fairly common size for automobiles. Problem is that for many of Deere's CUT's, group 24 won't fit. In fact, using the Exide battery configurator, the Deere 4310, current models 3x20's, 4x20's, they aren't listed.

Although it appears that some like the 2520 etc are listed, they aren't for current models. Deere numbering convention is somewhat confusing because certain model numbers are reused or recycled into newer products which is nothing like the original products. In fact, a 1971 2520 compared to the current model 2520 today are completely different tractors and size.

The difficult to find aftermarket battery size is specific to Deere and this question has been discussed on/off.

 

[JB4310]

Yeah, it's getting confusing, they couldn't help me at Napa, might just go to Deere to be sure. Thanks all.

 

[Superduper]

Yeah, it's getting confusing, they couldn't help me at Napa, might just go to Deere to be sure. Thanks all.

JB, you might want to look at this one. I posted this before when this issue was addressed and just checked, looks like it's still available:

Adventure Power UB12550 (Group 22NF) Battery - Group 30H Batteries

Resists shocks and vibrations
Will not leak, even if mounted upside down
AGM design (Absorbed glass mat) SLA (sealed lead acid) design
55 AH rating
670 Cold Cranking Amps
850 Marine Cranking Amps

It is the correct group size but the hold down might be different so you might need to implement a bracket mod... I've seen others use a heavy rubber bungy cord or a few simple automotive style brackets/rods availabe at any Kragens, etc. It's a little on the expensive side but if you compare the specs, I think you'll be hard pressed to find one better spec'ed or featured.

 

[JB4310]

JB, you might want to look at this one. I posted this before when this issue was addressed and just checked, looks like it's still available:

Adventure Power UB12550 (Group 22NF) Battery - Group 30H Batteries

Resists shocks and vibrations
Will not leak, even if mounted upside down
AGM design (Absorbed glass mat) SLA (sealed lead acid) design
55 AH rating
670 Cold Cranking Amps
850 Marine Cranking Amps

It is the correct group size but the hold down might be different so you might need to implement a bracket mod... I've seen others use a heavy rubber bungy cord or a few simple automotive style brackets/rods availabe at any Kragens, etc. It's a little on the expensive side but if you compare the specs, I think you'll be hard pressed to find one better spec'ed or featured.

The length and width are right on, as long as it has the tabs sticking out on the lower sides it would drop right in, don't know if I want to spend that much though, if I had a greater electric load like an inverter or a lot more acs lights I'd go for it, Deere gets $90. now for the strong box.

 

[JB4310]

To follow up, I went ahead and got the Deere Strong Box for $87.+ tax, they said 3-4 years is all I should expect from this battery. The only problem is when I got it home, 2 of the cells were bone dry and since I know they had it on a charger so it would be ready to go, I didn't think that was a good condition and went back to get another one, they replaced it no problem, dealer is only about 10 miles away so I wasn't upset about the ordeal.